by Anne Mather
‘Mother? I—’ Emma glanced about her desperately. ‘Is she here? Of course, she must be. And David? Oh, please, Jordan, I don’t want to see anyone—’
‘Calm down, calm down, calm down,’ he decreed, a trifle roughly. ‘No one’s going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. Yes, your mother’s here, but she’s with my Aunt Agnes, and—and Ingram didn’t show his face.’
‘He—he didn’t?’
‘No. Why should he? He never had any love for my father—only for his money!’
Emma licked her dry lips, looking round apprehensively to see the groups of mourners moving towards the procession of cars that waited to take them back to the reception. No one was paying any particular attention to them, but sooner or later Jordan was bound to be missed.
‘I’m—I’m sorry, Jordan,’ she said now, remembering her reason for being there. ‘About your father, I mean. It was quite a shock when I read—when I read it in the paper.’
Jordan nodded half impatiently, taking her arm, and she looked up at him in blank disbelief. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘We have to talk.’
‘No.’ Emma shook her head, drawing away from him. ‘No, Jordan, I can’t—’
‘Why can’t you?’
‘I just came back to pay my respects to your father, not to—not to—’
‘—see me?’ he asked bitterly.
‘No. That is—well, yes. That was part of it.’
‘Why? Because of what I said to you? Because you know I thought we were—related?’
Her eyes were wide. ‘How do you—what do you mean?’
‘I know,’ he said softly. ‘My father and I—we had quite a talk about you before he died.’ He made a rueful gesture. ‘Even then, I was prepared to disbelieve him, but there was one way of proving it—to myself, at least.’
‘What—’
Jordan looked down at her, his dark eyes brilliant in his tanned face. ‘While it’s not possible to prove conclusively that one is the father of a child, it is possible to prove that one is not.’ He shook his head. ‘Blood groups, Emma. If only I’d checked years ago! But I had no doubts then…’
‘But how did you—’
‘I went and saw old Doctor Forrester. With a little, persuasion he was prepared to tell me your blood group and that of your mother. I knew my father’s already. That was enough.’
She trembled. ‘So that was why…’
‘Why I walked out on you? Of course.’ His voice thickened. ‘How can you doubt it? We were in love. I love you still. And I think you love me.’
Emma shook her head. ‘But who told you? Who lied to you? Tell me that. It—it can’t have been—your father—’
‘No.’
‘Mine?’
‘No.’ Jordan raised his shoulders sadly. ‘Emma, it was your mother. I’m sorry, but you deserve to know the truth.’
Emma stared back at him through a glaze of tears. ‘No…’
‘Yes.’ He sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Emma, but it’s time you knew the truth. Your mother never wanted us to marry. She never thought I was good enough for you. And—and when my father—I know you know what he said, he told me. Well, when he denounced her like that, she never forgave him. And by lying to me, she could hurt him in the most subtle way of all. She knew he expected us to marry and have children—his grandchildren! And indisputably hers as well.’
‘But—but why—’
‘You know the history,’ Jordan shrugged. ‘Maybe she should have married my father. Certainly she was attracted to him, and that was something she could never live with.’ He shook his head. ‘My father was so—uncultivated. So crude, in her eyes. It went against the grain that he should have this fatal fascination for her.’
‘Fatal indeed!’ whispered Emma faintly.
‘Yes.’ Jordan’s hands descended on her shoulders. ‘Now, what are you going to do?’
Emma moved restlessly. ‘I suppose—I suppose I must see David,’ she admitted at last. ‘I didn’t want to, but I see now that I must.’
Jordan nodded. ‘I won’t stop you.’
Emma looked up at him. ‘But what else can I do? He’s still my husband. He’ll never let me go, not now.’
‘Do you want him to let you go?’ asked Jordan quietly, and she gazed at him with her heart in her eyes.
‘I never stopped loving you, Jordan,’ she admitted honestly, but she evaded him when he would have pulled her into his arms. ‘I tried to pretend I had. I suppose I was guilty of encouraging David in an attempt to make you jealous. But the week—the week before the wedding, I’d decided I should call it off. Then—then David had the accident, and the rest you know.’
‘That’s all I wanted to know,’ he said softly. ‘Come on. Uncle Daniel can handle the reception at the Stag. You and I will go and see Ingram.’
* * *
But at the house in Mellor Terrace, Emma faltered.
‘I think I ought to see David alone,’ she murmured, as Jordan would have got out of the car with her. ‘Give me some time. I have to do this by myself.’
‘Emma—’
‘Please. I know what I’m doing.’
The door opened before she could find her key and use it, however, and Mrs Ingram stood there. She looked flushed and discomfited, as if unprepared for Emma’s arrival, and Emma had the feeling that if she could she would have forbidden her the house.
‘David’s resting,’ she said instead, but Emma only raised her eyebrows before pushing past the woman into the hall.
The hall was unnaturally hushed, as if a conversation which had been going on had been suddenly stilled. Emma sensed the presence of someone else, and instead of approaching David’s bedroom, she thrust open the drawing room door. A girl of about her own age was seated on the edge of the sofa. She was small and blonde, and her clothes were smart, if a little cheap. David himself was seated close by, his face a mask of anger at this sudden intrusion, and Emma didn’t need to ask the girl’s name to know exactly who this was.
‘Hello, David,’ she said, marshalling her defences. ‘I didn’t know you had company. Your mother—’ she glanced round at Mrs Ingram hovering anxiously behind her, ‘your mother thought you were resting.’
‘There’s no need to be clever, Emma,’ said David harshly, his knuckles white where they Were gripping the arms of his chair. ‘I know what’s happened. Sandra’s told me. I suppose you think you’ve been remarkably shrewd.’
Emma shook her head. ‘I don’t think that at all,’ she denied. ‘On the contrary, I’ve been remarkably stupid.
Living with you for four years, and never suspecting—’ She broke off and turned to his mother. ‘Did you know? Satisfy my curiosity. Did you honestly know what had happened?’
Mrs Ingram’s shoulders were heavy. ‘No. No, of course not,’ she replied dully. ‘Do you think I would have let you marry him if I’d suspected?’
‘You couldn’t have stopped us,’ retorted David coldly. ‘Just because you’ve had your eyes opened now, don’t think you could have altered the way things happened.’
‘David!’ Mrs Ingram was shocked. ‘How can you speak to me like that? After all I’ve done for you…’
‘What have you ever done for me?’ he snapped. ‘Except what suited you? Don’t pretend it didn’t suit you to have a tenant for this old ruin! It was far too big for you to handle alone, and Emma was always a far better housekeeper than you!’
‘David!’
It was the girl, Sandra, who spoke, and he rounded on her, too. ‘As for you,’ he declared, ‘you can get out of here as soon as you like. Don’t imagine that if I hadn’t married Emma I would have married you, because nothing would have persuaded me. You were an—amusement, a diversion. But that’s all.’
Sandra rose to her feet then, and looked squarely at Emma. ‘You have my sympathy,’ she stated steadily, and without waiting for David to say anything more, she left them.
Alone with the Ingrams, Emma found she was trembling, but Mrs Ingram
was staring at her son as if she had never seen him before.
‘Don’t you have anything to say to Emma?’ she demanded. ‘Like I’m sorry…’
‘Do you think she’d believe me?’ David uttered a harsh laugh. ‘You’re a romantic, Mother. I’m a realist. I know what I’m fighting for, and it’s not the same as you.’
Emma turned to Mrs Ingram. ‘I can’t stay here. You do understand that, don’t you?’
Mrs Ingram nodded. ‘What will you do?’
‘Who brought you here?’ demanded David, ignoring his mother. ‘Did that devil Kyle have a hand in this?’
‘David!’ Now his mother uttered a painful cry. ‘Don’t go on with this. Let the girl have her freedom. It’s the least you can do.’
Emma shivered. ‘I don’t—think he will. At least, not voluntarily.’
‘The marriage has never been consummated,’ said Mrs Ingram tersely, who knew her son’s condition as well as anyone. ‘There’s always an annulment.’
‘An annulment?’ The idea had never occurred to Emma.
‘An annulment!’ echoed David mockingly. ‘Now what would an annulment be worth to that rich benefactor of yours, I wonder? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Fifty?’
‘One hundred,’ said a quiet voice behind them, and Emma swung round to find Jordan right behind her.
‘No—’ she began, but the two men weren’t listening to her.
‘Are you serious?’ David’s lips twisted. ‘Would you really buy a bride?’
‘Jordan—’
‘I’d do anything, if it meant happiness for Emma,’ Jordan replied evenly. ‘Were you serious? Or would you rather we waited the two years and obtained a divorce with or without your permission?’
The flames of the fire that burned in the grate cast mellow shadows over the rest of the room. After assuring herself that they had everything they needed, Mrs Govan had left them, and now Jordan pressed Emma down into the depths of one of the worn velvet armchairs in the library at Athelmere.
Then he squatted down before her and said: ‘Can you relax now?’
‘Will I ever?’ Emma trembled. ‘I—I can hardly believe it.’
‘What? That you’re free? Or that Ingram would take the money?’
‘A little of both, I suppose. Oh, Jordan, what will he do? Even his mother has turned against him.’
‘Not for long, I’m sure. She’s still his mother. Once she gets over the shock…’ He shrugged. ‘At least they won’t starve.’
‘If you hadn’t come in…’
‘But I did. As soon as I saw Sandra come out, I guessed it wasn’t going to be easy for you.’
Emma allowed him to take her hand then and press it against his lips. When she could speak again, she whispered:
‘Poor Sandra! She’s had quite a raw deal.’
‘Do you think so? Even if I tell you it was she who was driving at the time of the accident?’
‘Oh, no!’
‘Oh, yes. Maybe Ingram had been drinking. Maybe she just wanted the chance to drive his car. Whatever, it was she who drove the car into the tree that crippled him for life.’
‘Oh, how awful!’
‘Yes, it must have been.’ Jordan was silent for a moment. ‘But even then Ingram’s devious brain didn’t let him down. He knew two things: first, if Sandra was discovered with him, he would lose you, and secondly, if the police discovered how the accident happened, he would lose the insurance. Somehow, after persuading Sandra to leave him, he managed to get into the driving seat, and when the police came, it looked a straightforward act of mistaken judgment.’
‘Oh, God!’
‘That was the end, so far as Sandra was concerned. She knew he was no further use to her, and she didn’t need a lot of persuading to keep quiet about the whole affair. Particularly as soon afterwards she discovered she was pregnant, and Ingram bought her off with the insurance money. You found that out yesterday, too, didn’t you?’
‘But—but how did you learn all this?’
‘Quite simple. I went looking for the girl.’ Jordan grimaced.
‘I’m not proud of what I did, but something Gilda said alerted me.’
‘You’ve spoken to Gilda? About me?’
‘Yes. Yesterday. I wanted to see you—to tell you why—I didn’t know you already knew about—about what my father had said.’
‘Oh, Jordan!’
‘Well, as it happened, it was the best thing I could have done. You see, she told me the reason you believed you hadn’t got the insurance money was because of some—technicality. That aroused my suspicions. When Gilda said that, I had to find out.’
‘And you saw—the girl?’
‘Eventually, yes. The boy too. He’s a mischievous little devil.’ He paused. ‘He is Ingram’s son. There’s no possibility of an error.’
Emma pressed her lips together. ‘What—what did she say?’
‘Not a lot, to begin with. But when I explained that unless she told the truth, I was going to take all my suspicions to the proper authorities, she soon came round. Apparently Ingram threatened her with prosecution if she dared to tell the truth, and she knew she’d been committing an offence, driving the car without insurance or licence.’
‘But she was pregnant…’
‘Yes. Well, apparently she suspected it at the time of the crash. Maybe that caused Ingram to drink. He knew the risks he was running, and time seemed to be running out. She got the insurance money anyway, and that was the last she heard of him.’
But the child…’
‘He said he never wanted to see it. He told her never to contact him again.’
‘Oh, Jordan!’
For a moment there was silence as his mouth explored the parted contours of hers, then Emma drew back to whisper:
‘If your father—if your father hadn’t felt the need to confess—hadn’t insisted on making over half his estate to me…’
‘Ingram might have got away with it,’ Jordan nodded. ‘Do you think my father’s earned forgiveness? For what he did to you and your mother?’
‘If only you’d questioned what my mother said. If only you’d told me…’ Emma whispered tremulously. ‘But if you can forgive my mother, I can forgive your father.’
‘Your mother and I had quite a talk this morning,’ confessed Jordan softly. ‘She’s quite reconciled to the fact that her strategy has failed. And perhaps, when she has grandchildren…’ He frowned. ‘It’s you she’s concerned about. She needs your forgiveness, too.’
Emma made a helpless gesture. ‘It’s too late now for bitterness.’
‘That’s what I told her.’
‘We’ve wasted so much time…’
‘Well, you believed what Stacey said, remember?’ he reminded her gently, and she leaned forward to press her face into the hollow of his neck.
‘Hmm, Stacey,’ she murmured. ‘What about her? What will she say when you tell her you’re going to marry someone else?’
His laugh was soft. ‘I’m sure it will come as no surprise to her. Besides, there’s always Clive.’
‘You—know about him?’ Emma lifted her head, but he pulled her to him again.
‘As he’s one of our foremost composers, I suppose most people know him,’ he said, and she realised why she had recognised the name. ‘But as far as knowing about him and Stacey is concerned, they knew one another long before I came on the scene. In fact, it was through Clive that I got to know her.’ He grinned. ‘I guess you saw more than you bargained for from the yacht that day. I had time to think about that, and I guessed why you kept silent. There was no need. Stacey knew that our association was a fleeting thing at best.’
Emma pulled a face. ‘She didn’t act that way.’
‘No, well—like everyone else, Stacey likes to think she makes the running.’
Emma slid her fingers into the neckline of his shirt. ‘Have there—have there been a lot of women?’ she questioned tentatively, and felt the vibration of his suppressed laughter.
‘Some,’ he agreed, turning his lips against her forehead. ‘I’m only human, and you did marry Ingram. I could have killed you for that.’
‘There was never—’
‘I know.’ His mouth traced the curve of her cheek. ‘I have had some little experience, and I’d say you were—untouched.’
‘Oh, Jordan…’ His hard kiss was wholly satisfying, and as he pulled her down on to the rug beside him her whisper of contentment was the only sound in the firelit room…
ISBN-13: 9781460347584
CAPTIVE DESTINY
© 1978 Anne Mather
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